There has been a long time need for an improved car top boat carrier. Literally dozens of patents have issued on systems for carrying boats and many have had as objectives simplicity and ease of loading and unloading. Unfortunately, as the need has been recognized for simple boat carriers usable by a single person, their design have become more and more complex rendering them uneconomical, and further not particularly effective.
Examples are the number of car top carriers are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,082, A. H. Sumner, July 10, 1952; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,628, L. J. Gebhart, July 21, 1959; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,413, R. R. Nelson, Jan. 9, 1973; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,669, G. W. Osterhout, Nov. 11, 1975; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,029, C. L. Shoemaker, May 2, 1978; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,887, D. L. Keiffer, Aug. 12, 1980.
Given this state of the art and continuing need for a simple carrier I set about to design one which would allow an individual to load and unload a boat weighing as much as 200 pounds unassisted. Of course, an individual cannot lift an entire boat of such weight over his head when mounted on a car or truck top. Many individuals are capable of lifting one end of the boat of such weight but this lifting has to be done with care, and after lifting, it must be received by the vehicle body or some part of the carrier in a manner which does not damage either the vehicle, carrier, or the boat, and which must be secure enough that the boat will not fall during the lifting process. I have learned from experience that a boat, in the loading and unloading process, is quite unstable and there is a real danger of it either falling, or of injury to the person attempting the loading. Neither result is acceptable.